Upgrade Your Breathing

Breathing – all of us are short of time and are all trying to pack as much into our days as possible. When it comes to exercises we need ones that provide a high return on our time investment. We want maximum results with as little effort as possible – and there are some exercises that do give this.

If I could get everyone to do just one exercise it would probably be a breathing exercise. Breathing exercises have a variety of benefits for the body that not only make you healthier, but can reduce your stress and anxiety levels as well.

Breathing exercises will help back pain – There are a lot of muscles that attach to the ribs and diaphragm which play an important role in back health and therefore back pain. If you spend all your time taking small shallow breaths or not breathing in the correct way this can have a knock on effect on your back – leading to stiffness, pain or discomfort.

Breathing exercises can improve your energy level – If you’re feeling tired or are not able to focus on your work, deep-breathing exercises can help. In the modern world, people don’t use their diaphragm to breath; instead, they use weaker, surrounding muscles that don’t fill the lungs to their full capacity. While this isn’t a life-threatening change, taking deep breaths creates more oxygen saturation in the cells, which in turn activates a number of different nerves and creates a relaxed, alert state.

Breathing exercise slow your heart rate and reduce anxiety – Lack of oxygen can make you feel tense and nervous, even if you aren’t consciously aware of the problem.However, by taking a deep breath, you force more oxygen into your cells. This lowers your heart rate, blood pressure, and improves circulation.

Breathing exercises help to improve digestion- With each breath you take the diaphragm moves up and down, changing the pressures within your chest and abdominal cavity. This rhythmical change in cavity pressures helps to stimulate the digestive system, keeping things working effectively.

There are many more reasons why breathing exercises will benefit your overall health and well being but I think that is enough for now. What is important is to start doing them.

Here is my favourite breathing exercise that you can easily add to your routine on a daily basis